Arm weights prog for woman

TKD SC

Hi guys,

I've been asked to give advice to a 28yr old woman, re weights ex for arms. Looking for definition. About 30 mins, to do at home. Bodyweight / dumbells (no other equip). Not sure weight, but a size 12, 5ft 3" and relatively fit - she's just looking for some arm definition, not size.

Can anyone recommend a workout (or a website), and also what weight of dumbells given the above?

My initial guess is about 4kg dumbells. Do bicep curls, press ups, dips (on ground), bench press type (on ground and use dumbells), press above head while standing.

Any ideas much appreciated.

Thanks,

Simon

Vinnie K

Because shes a woman, she doesnt have to do anything differant to a man, she can use whatever weight she is comfortable with. For definition, she'd want to make sure her diet is in tact, best way to get def is to drop BF. Good site, why not tell her to post here, its about as good as you'll get.

rubadub

She should be aiming to get them big as possible, because they will never get too big! and any women she has seen in pictures that she considers have good "definition" are probably lifting heavy weights.

Has she already got the dumbells? if not make sure they are proper cast iron ones with plates, - not pink lady-dumbbells.

Pushups will be good, she can do them inclined against a wall, or on her knees if she cannot manage a normal one yet. Since women are relatively less strong at the same body weight then I expect she will not "outgrow" them too fast. i.e. she should be aiming for 8-12reps for maximum muscle growth, and a man would be quicker to get to that stage than a woman using there own bodyweight.

If her arms ever did get "too big" you simply back off lifting and they reduce in size, but the change is very gradual.

TKD SC

rubadub wrote: »

Has she already got the dumbells? if not make sure they are proper cast iron ones with plates, - not pink lady-dumbbells.

Pushups will be good, she can do them inclined against a wall, or on her knees if she cannot manage a normal one yet. .

Thanks. She's thinking of getting some in Argos. Any ideas of weight though. She doesnt know what her max / comfortable weight etc is - this is just a starting point and she's no idea what a sort of normal weight is?

Any other ex ideas?

Cheers

rubadub

This is a good set that would last her a good while.
http://www.irish-lifting.com/product_info_equipment.php?cPath=1_15&products_id=260

argos equivalent is this
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500119829&clickfrom=name

but has less weight.

this is a standard decent set for €40
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500101907&clickfrom=name

I started with that. When she gets it she will probably think she will never be able to lift it. I thought the same but doubled my strength in a few months. Now I currently have ~180kg of plates.

The 20kg set is nice and compact (no barbell), and if she does need more she can just buy some 5kg plates to add to it.

Some exercises require lots of weight, like deadlifts, and shrugs. In those cases I cannot use dumbells, since I need to put large plates on the dumbells and they get in the way of your body. For that reason the 50kg barbell set is sort of "future proofing", for when she does get stronger. Also when you get stronger you can simply load a single dumbell with all your weights and exercise each arm one at a time.

But the dumbells alone will allow a lot of exercises to be done for the casual lifter who just wants a bit of definition.

She should be aiming for the 8-12rep range. If you stick some beer cans or 2L bottles in a shopping bag she could see how much she can lift doing bicep curls for 8 reps. 500ml can is ~0.5kg, a 2L bottle is ~2kg. But bear in mind the strength will double easliy enough in a few months.

Seraphina

**** the weights. tell her to get a pull up bar from argos instead. she probably wont lift enough (women are always afraid of lifting 'too much') or else she'll just buy a pink set (if she's gonna buy weights please god dont let her buy anything plastic and colourful...)

it might take her a loooong time before she can do them properly, but i'm telling ya, they did wonders for my arms/shoulders/chest/back. they look well sexeh now if i do say so myself.

get her to start palms facing towards her, and she can work up to a wider pronated grip as she gets stronger

TKD SC

Seraphina wrote: »

**** the weights. tell her to get a pull up bar from argos instead. she probably wont lift enough (women are always afraid of lifting 'too much') or else she'll just buy a pink set (if she's gonna buy weights please god dont let her buy anything plastic and colourful...)

it might take her a loooong time before she can do them properly, but i'm telling ya, they did wonders for my arms/shoulders/chest/back. they look well sexeh now if i do say so myself.

get her to start palms facing towards her, and she can work up to a wider pronated grip as she gets stronger

too late! She got some lovely yellow 2kg dumbells! But, she's happy with them and did a session yesterday and her arms are nicely soar today. I'd love a pullup bar myself too for the house. Are they handy enough to put on door frames and take off again, and hold body weight? (I'm 88kg). I'll pass on your point to her, thanks!